Kanye’s ‘Yeezus’ Sales Plunge 80% in Second Week

Rapper Wale has unwrapped his first No. 1 album, as “The Gifted” climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart last week.

The performer (born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin) moved 158,000 copies of his Atlantic release, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending June 30. His previous set, 2011’s “Ambition,” arrived at No. 2.

Wale’s large debut trumped two other big-name rap titles that faded in their second frames. J. Cole’s “Born Sinner” (Columbia) held its slot at No. 2 with 84,000 sold, but showed a 72% decline.

Kanye West’s “Yeezus” (Def Jam), which came aboard at No. 1 last week as the year’s third-biggest debut, fell to No. 3 with 65,000 shifted, representing a huge 80% plunge.

The Memphis Christian rock band Skillet enjoyed the second-biggest bow of its career, as “Rise” (Atlantic) debuted at No. 4 with a 60,000-unit week. That’s second only to the debut of the group’s last album “Awake,” which debuted at No. 2 in 2009 and sold more than a million copies.